Restoration of a FLAME DROP

[mobsterboy]

Ok,
Heres my problem
I have a super sweet drop forward, that i pretty much got for free
A NICE flame drop with an on off asa
this isn't the cp or the cheap one from ebay, this is a nice expensive one

If any of you ever traveled around and got to paintball inc, or if any of you shopped online there, they had these nice 2 1/2 inch drops that extended 4 or so inches out, and were about 1/2 to 5/8 inch wide, so they were thick "chrome" shiny drops

The problem is that they have a bit of a scuffed and scratched look now, and i was wondering what sort of tools, treatments, etc that i could do to return the lost luster of this beautiful dropforward

The other reason is because im getting a sto cocker, and wanted something sweet to put on it

Lemme know what you're thinking, and, call me stupid but whats a buffing wheel and how much is it usually, if thats the approach you think i should take

[mobsterboy]

PIC
Share the insight and wisdom, guys

[mobsterboy]

C'mon, somebody's gotta have some knowledge on this that they'd like to share

please, shed some light on my dark empty head

[shatter_storm]

in order:

clean w/a industrial strength soap/solvent
strip old finish with lye or proper solvent (powdercoat, nickel plate, chrome, etc)
file out deep gouges
sand off file marks and minor gouges/scratches
buff out sanding marks and fine scratches
clean w/a industrial strength soap/solvent
etch, if desired
desmut, if necessary

anodize!

I don't know how to prep parts for powdercoating or chroming, though you'd go through the same strip/file/sand/buff/clean process to get the surface to what you want.
You'd only be able to buff it if it were raw metal, and it wouldn't hold the finish very well if you played with it.

In the end, it's probably not worth restoring a drop. Now, if this were an entire marker, it might be worth reworking. But think of it this way - this is something you're going to play with, not try and win contests with. If it's a show piece then I could see restoring a drop so the entire thing would look flawless, but otherwise it's not worth your time.

[Target Practice]

Don't even worry about it, just grab a rag and a little metal polish (make sure that the polish is compatible with the finish on the drop), and go to town. It's not worth reannoing; the polish job should make it look pretty nice.